Man arrested after firing rifle to ward off 'clown'

An American man has fired a semi-automatic rifle at a woman walking her dog because he thought she was a clown.

Clown hysteria has sweeped the world in recent weeks, with sightings of creepy jesters being reported across the US and even in New Zealand.

In the latest case, a man in Bardstown, Kentucky, yelled at a woman wearing a white blanket standing outside his home. When she didn't react, he fired a warning shot in the air, reports the Kentucky Standard.

He then called police to report the clown, who charged him - not the clown - with second-degree wanton endangerment and confiscated his rifle.

The woman was not wearing a red nose, floppy shoes or face paint.

In July, the first image of Pennywise the Dancing Clown from a new movie adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novel It was released. Since then, the world has been awash with scary clowns.

Meanwhile in Utah, police have warned residents not to go shooting "random clowns".

"Can I shoot or take action against someone that is dressed up like a clown?' That's not a simple yes or no question. It has a lot of variables to it," a post on the Orem Police Department's Facebook page read.

"We understand that clowns to some people are already 'creepy' and some people have a phobia of them, we see that.

"However, if someone is standing on the sidewalk, dressed like a clown and they don't have any weapons and they are just standing there not chasing anyone around and you call us, when we respond and that person decides to look at us and walk the other way without saying a word, we can't do anything."

Pennywise, from the new movie adaptation of It by Stephen King (supplied)

Meanwhile in Utah, police have warned residents not to go shooting "random clowns".

"Can I shoot or take action against someone that is dressed up like a clown?' That's not a simple yes or no question. It has a lot of variables to it," a post on the Orem Police Department's Facebook page read.

"We understand that clowns to some people are already 'creepy' and some people have a phobia of them, we see that.

"However, if someone is standing on the sidewalk, dressed like a clown and they don't have any weapons and they are just standing there not chasing anyone around and you call us, when we respond and that person decides to look at us and walk the other way without saying a word, we can't do anything."

Newshub.

Meanwhile in Utah, police have warned residents not to go shooting "random clowns".

"Can I shoot or take action against someone that is dressed up like a clown?' That's not a simple yes or no question. It has a lot of variables to it," a post on the Orem Police Department's Facebook page read.

"We understand that clowns to some people are already 'creepy' and some people have a phobia of them, we see that.

"However, if someone is standing on the sidewalk, dressed like a clown and they don't have any weapons and they are just standing there not chasing anyone around and you call us, when we respond and that person decides to look at us and walk the other way without saying a word, we can't do anything."